I woke up this morning with this playing in my head... and it still is. — SophistiCat
In this middle section Schumann quotes, and certainly not as a coincidence, a part from his “Scenes from Goethe’s Faust” that he composed at about the same time, namely the “Chor Seliger Knaben” (the quote is underlined)
:
PATER SERAPHICUS, mittlere Region.
Welch ein Morgenwölkchen schwebet
Durch der Tannen schwankend Haar?
Ahn ich, Was im Innern lebet?
Es ist junge Geisterschar.
CHOR SELIGER KNABEN.
Sag uns, Vater, wo wir wallen,
Sag uns, Guter, wer wir sind!
Glücklich sind wir: allen, allen
Ist das Dasein so gelind.
Sag uns, Vater, wo wir wallen,
sag uns, Guter, wer wir sind.
You can listen to this part of the composition HERE .
Simply for inspiration, I added the lyrics to the music in the new Urtext edition: Sample pages — Schumann - The Prophet Bird
Consequently, Schumann’s pedal markings are an intended and important part of the composition. But hardly any musician respects them. Next to Clara Haskil’s recording (also on YouTube) that many piano enthusiasts rightly favor, there are at least (only?) two further recordings that not only follow Schumann’s original intentions, including the important and sophisticated pedal markings, but are also wonderfully expressive. One was recently released on CD; a recording by Andreas Staier [Robert Schumann: "Hommage à Bach". Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901989] whose play on an Erard grand piano succeeds in communicating the enchantment of this piece. The other recording is by Wilhelm Backhaus. There are both a studio and a live recording by Backhaus, both made in the 1950s. Everything here is perfect. The live recording from Carnegie Hall with "The Prophet Bird" as an encore is especially great (it sets in at 2:10, following a breathtaking performance of Chopin’s Etude op. 25/2 in f minor and an intriguingly improvised modulation to the Schumann piece): Video no longer available — Schumann - The Prophet Bird
@SophistiCatPity the Carnegie Hall video is no longer available. — Amity
Wilhelm Backhaus at age 72 in splendid form, giving four encores during a Carnegie Hall recital in New York in 1956. Starting with some preluding to establish the key of the next piece, he plays:
- Schubert's Impromptu in B flat major Opus 142 no. 3, D935;
- Chopin's Etude Opus 25 no. 2 in F minor;
- Schumann's "Vogel als Prophet", from his Waldszenen Opus 82;
- Mozart's Rondo alla Turca from his Sonata no. 11 in A major, KV331 — Backhaus - 4 encores at Carnegie Hall, 1956
And Hillary Hahn in my opinion in a class even beyond these, they mainly about allowing Bach's structures to be as accessible as possible. Hahn, on the other hand, about rendering the feeling in the music, seeking it, finding it, studying and understanding it, performing it.
As if, in going to church of a Sunday to hear a sermon, one encountered the voice of God itself!
Here:
Furtwangler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJG5A-klfgE
Kleiber:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKcAAA1O2sc
Zander
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3EiRynr1Us
Tureck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XoAJ98PbDM
Biggs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E_peLhyksQ&list=OLAK5uy_n_ngZQXiZXethaXN2SWX-IoKE6WKfGOBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_XmdFE-7dM
Hahn:
Sibelius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O65YBjweUPo&t=741s
Three mini-presentations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICGFmN85J50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OwULR_YkJk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=015QVOO-5Ek
Lark Ascending
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOWN5fQnzGk — tim wood
I've been thinking about this since you wrote it.
I woke up this morning with an earworm but not any dangling from the Prophet Bird.
And I wondered what is it about music that has that effect on our brain or mind.
I guess it's the recurrence of a motif. Is that all? Why does some music resonate more than others?
Does the impression depend on the listener's mental state or brain rhythm already going on?
What do you hear that I can't? — Amity
Found this. The Schumann piece comes in just after rapturous applause at 11:00. (if I hear right!)
Wilhelm Backhaus at age 72 in splendid form, giving four encores during a Carnegie Hall recital in New York in 1956. Starting with some preluding to establish the key of the next piece, he plays:
- Schubert's Impromptu in B flat major Opus 142 no. 3, D935;
- Chopin's Etude Opus 25 no. 2 in F minor;
- Schumann's "Vogel als Prophet", from his Waldszenen Opus 82;
- Mozart's Rondo alla Turca from his Sonata no. 11 in A major, KV331 — Amity
I love that knifepoint between late romanticism and early modernism. I'd like to live there. — Noble Dust
Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen (1945)
Composed in the final weeks of the war, when the composer's world was crumbling around him. If the theme sounds vaguely familiar, listen carefully: about 3/4 of the way in, and then again at the very conclusion of the piece the source of the theme is revealed. — SophistiCat
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.